Rahll's 98 SR5 4wd Build

[Rahll]

Next, rock sliders
Trail Gear 120002-1-KIT Trail-Gear Rock Sliders | Summit Racing

I have never welded before, but decided to just get after it to save some money once again, saving 500$ to go this route instead of bolt on route. I got some trail gear sliders for a good price, then some basic MIG lessons from my partner's dad, and went to town. Did my basic lessons and got them welded on within the same day. My measurements ended up making it look really stuck out, because I wanted both anterior-posterior bars reachable by foot and also flat for roof box access. I will probably revisit the fitment on these at some point, but already used them once during hunting season when I got the first flat since owning this 4runner on a regular gravel road and a perfectly shaped dagger rock so I'm glad I had them on when I did.

 

[Rahll]

Rear axle seals

Both my brother and I both sprung a rear axle seal at the same time. We ordered Marlin Crawler kits

Rear Axle Service Kit, 1979'-'99 Pickup, 4Runner, Tacoma '-' Marlin Crawler Off'-'Road

I watched timmys video for this and I knew that sometimes this job doesn't go well with machine shops, but I don't have a press. Took a gamble on Clackamas Auto Parts machine shop near Portland. I've been beating on this thing for 5 weeks straight for western oregon deer season and leak seems to be fixed. Total cost was about 275$ to have both mine and my brothers done.

 

[Rahll]

Next is new roof rack and accessories

I sold my skinnywarrior and supdawgs for a decent price on marketplace, then got a Sherpa Matterhorn sport brand new for my truck. I love this rack. It has a great low profile, holds rock solid, and has a ton of space compared to my last set up. I got 2 103L 23zero boxes used on facebook marketplace for 400$, as well as a matching 23zero awning for 100$ from a separate seller. The boxes have been a huge asset to clearing out the interior of my 4runner, and the awning worked fantastic for keeping out rain.

The reason all of these things are important: Hunting season

During hunting season, I was able to sleep in the back of my 4runner and fit an entire twin size air mattress in the rear with the lower seats in the back unbolted, and keep all my spares and camping gear in the boxes above. This meant that I could bring my bed and all my gear with me to park and gates and not have to deal with repacking tents and getting everything soaked at the buttcrack of dawn every morning. HUGE advantage for ease and comfort. So, I was able to easily drive out and camp 2 nights every weekend for 5 weeks straight comfortably, using the awning to cook out of the rain when needed, and having minimal camp to pack up every morning. It paid off and got my first buck on a general western oregon tag, on the last weekend of the season, and this was my first year hunting ever.

 

[Rahll]

last major maintenance change: Injectors

I have had a long standing issues of surging acceleration, only when going 55+, and only uphill. After doing a bunch of reading, I decided to try changing injectors. I picked up some metal style injectors used from facebook marketplace and had them rebuilt by injector masters in Clackamas, Oregon for 25$ each. I'll include the data sheet below.

150$ for metal style injector set, 150$ for rebuild.

I did the injectors yesterday, and not only does the truck no longer have the surging acceleration, it also idles FREAKY smooth.

When replacing injectors, I discovered that someone had messed with them before. I had 1 brown plastic style injector, and 5 metal style injectors. The brown plastic injector seemed relatively new, and the metal ones had some indicators of age.

I'm curious to see if injector masters will run a diagnostic on my old injectors to see what the output and flow difference is.

 

[Rahll]

So here's finally a picture of how the truck stands after all the recent changes and a summary build sheet:

Engine Parts Replaced
- Valve cover gaskets
- PCV valve
- injectors
- timing belt, water pump, tensioner, pulleys
- all belts
- radiator
- thermostat
- NGK plugs and wires
- MAF cleaned
- Intake manifold gaskets
- Air filter
- Fuel filter / fuel pump
- Throttle position sensor
- Hayden 698 transmission cooler

Electrical
- Optima yellow cap
- Auxiliary fuse block
- Military battery terminals
- Fog lights (Big Lion), Ditch lights (auxbeam), reverse lights (rigid)
- Scangauge 2
- Cobra CB with firestik

Drive
- Extended travel CV axles (trakmotive)
- E-locker full swap to 4:30 gears
- ARB diff breather
- Driveshaft greasing maintenance
- New 75-90 conventional in front and rear + transfer case
- Front diff seals
- Driver rear axle service
- ECGS clamshell mod
- SRQ Diff drop kit

Suspension + brakes
- Tundra TRD pro coils in front, swapped to OME 883 springs
- OME 891 in rear
- Bilstein shocks all around
- New toyota lower ball joints
- SRQ stainless steel brake lines front and rear
- Eimkeith panhard correction kit
- Chevy bumpstops


Interior
- New driver seat foam and leather
- Weathertec (non-molded)
- Rockford fosgate speakers
- Pioneer stereo

Offroad
-Badlands Apex 12k winch with hawse, synthetic, bluetooth with "custom" hidden winch mount aka harbor freight plate
- Trailgear 67" rock sliders gusseted to frame
- Amazon max tracks https://a.co/d/fS8NSbz
- Amazon air compressor (used multiple times and works surprisingly well)https://a.co/d/esFzwNK
- Amazon All top Shackle kit https://a.co/d/86S5nDC

Wheels and Tires:
- 17x9 Bronze vision flows
- 285/70/17 BFG K02s

Roof Rack
- Sherpa Matterhorn Sport
- 23zero 103L boxes X2 - mounted with carriage bolts
- 23Zero 6ft awning

Work all completed DIY with exception of rear axle pressing, and injector rebuild

 

[Rahll]

Buddy called for a rescue up in the snow. They were elk hunting and got hit by a bad snowstorm. Chim and I bombed out and made it up to get them off the mountain

Got to stretch the lockers legs a bit, but found having it on caused the whole rear to swing in the snow we were climbing

Overall handled some pretty deep snow pretty well and went smoothly

 

[Rahll]

I followed PhoRunners videos on doing cheap bumpstops, and it works perfect. My rubbing in the front has pretty much disappeared, since it only rubbed bad while simultaneously turning and dropping off a ledge. The comments he makes about having the correct bolt is very important, as ACE and Wilco that carry the large bolt sets do not have the right socket head cap bolt to secure these. I ended up grinding down a hex bolt of the right thread pitch to fit a 12mm, which I was able to fit inside the front bumpstop. Normally the correct thread pitch is matched with a 14mm bolt, and the 14mm socket is too wide for the bumpstop. I got two sets of chevy bumpstops from the GMC model he lists in the video, and everything in the rear bolts up perfect. I haven't flexed out in the rear yet, but the size is really comparable to durobumps on paper, and I was having a lot of rubbing issues in the rear when fully flexed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZNtSiAxkSM&t=12s&ab_channel=PhoRunnerChannel(4Runner)

 

[Rahll]

Did another batch of upgrades recently.
- New Toyota throttle position sensor. I Have been chasing a loss of power at max load, and everything I've installed has helped but not fully fixed the issue until these recent two items. With new TPS it ran immediately better, got about 1MPG more, and held power up the mountain pass (I drive it 2x a week) much better. Fuel pump put the final nail in the coffin for this issue.
- SRQ diff drop kit ( I was able to bolt up factory skid plate, but tight)
- Changed front springs to OME 883 - tundra TRD PRO bilstein shocks with 883 springs, 3rd perch of 5 perches. Gave me about 1 more inch and a much smoother ride compared to TRD PRO springs. Just enough to reduce my rubbing to almost never
- Dropped tank and replaced fuel pump with denso unit. I started the project by cutting a larger access panel from the top based on TRQ's video () thinking I could avoid dropping the tank. Not so. Hard lines extend all the way down along the center side of the tank and do not disconnect from the top off of the sending unit. Ended up dropping the tank, not a horrible job since I have no rust. Also improved mileage a bit. Overall over 18mph right now, but every fuel system component has been replaced at this point.
- Eimkeith Panhard correction kit. slapped it in and welded it up
- Welded in gussets on rock sliders. I use them for steps all the time for my boxes and wanted some reassurance against bending over time. I also wanted some peace of mind if I need to use my high lift jack. I've used it once so far, and it flexed the sliders pretty good. For the gussets I just cut 2.5 inch triangles, welded to top of bars and frame.

 

[Rahll]

Tundra Brakes done
These things get really hot coming down from 3000 ish elevation for hunting season, but also perform much better.

 

[Rahll]

I bought rear platform plans off of etsy from WaveFormWoodworks and followed it to make a sleeping/drawer platform. I'm not a huge platform guy but camping 2 people is much much easier above the wheelwells. Supplies were a few hundred dollars but survived the hunting season well. If I had more time before needing to use it I wish I would have stained the wood before putting it in, as I have some mildew now - I have been using big amazon silica packs which seems to have cleared up the moisture issue.

 

[Rahll]

Finally got my front suspension leveled out
I had a previous 1.5 inch front rake with
1st gen tundra trd pro shocks - 883 OMEs
These shocks failed and wore a hole in the coilover top hat causing a loud clunk over bumps, but they were also of unknown age when I got them.
Super happy with change to new normal 3rd gen bilstein 5100 on 2nd to top perch with OME 883 matching the rear.
Front: OME 883 on bilstein 5100 (3rd gen version)
Rear: OME 891 with Bilstein 5100 (3rd gen version)

 

[Rahll]

Saddle Up rock garden at Browns Camp

 

[2TH4IST]

Nice looking rig! Nice mods too. Got to ask, how tall are the drawers? I'm about to start my platform quest soon and need ideas.

 

[Rahll]

Box from top to bottom is 8.5 inches, the inside depth of the drawer is 5 7/8 inches.
Definitely brings the roof closer to your face but much nicer to have the extra width.